PINOY JOKES

Opinion

Tribong Pinoy

DIY Travel

Balitang Artista

A Filipino seafarer who joked about having a bomb in his hand-carried bag on
a Manila-bound flight last Dec 20 has been fined $2,000 by a magistrate in West
Kowloon Court following his admission of guilt.

Mateo F. Sumague, 42, was convicted on Jan 21 by Magistrate Ada
Yim of a charge of “communicating false information on the existence of a bomb”
after he pleaded guilty to the offense.

In mitigation, the duty lawyer assigned to Sumague’s defense
said his client, who worked in Hong Kong earning $13,500 a month, had a wife
and a daughter in the Philippines and begged for a suspended sentence or a
fine.

The lawyer said the defendant, who was very remorseful for
his offense, had a clear record both in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and that
his employer would rehire him after his case was resolved because of his good
performance.

The counsel said Sumague was only joking when he told a
cabin crew of Philippine Airlines’ Flight PR311 there was a grenade in his
hand-carried luggage.

Sumague made the quip to a female passenger after he was asked by the stewardess to
put his bag in the overhead luggage storage while the aircraft was still on the
tarmac.

The passenger told the cabin crew, who took the joke seriously and called aviation
security. Sumague was arrested and the flight was delayed for an hour as
officers searched for the grenade.

The flight was allowed to depart an hour late at 11pm, minus
the defendant, only after the officers had made sure no explosive was on board.

The prosecutor said the case was a serious offense that normally
calls for a minimum sentence of six months in jail and a maximum of two years
in prison plus a fine.

Magistrate Yim said she had considered the defendant’s
admission of guilt and his clear record, so she decided to impose a fine of
$2,000 to be taken from Sumague’s money in hand. He had been held in custody without bail since his arrest.

But she told Sumague that causing a bomb scare on a plane,
even if it was just a joke, was a serious offense because of the alarm that it
caused the passengers and crew as well as the costs that the airline incurred for the delayed flight.

BPI’s Gary Flores has been sworn in as the new chairman of
the Philippine Association of Hong Kong, in ceremonies held at the Consulate on
Jan. 17.

Flores led 14 other members
of the PAHK’s Board of Directors in taking their oath of office before Consul
General Antonio A. Morales, who pledged the Consulate’s continued support for
the professional group.

“We wish the new leadership continued success in their
term,” Congen Morales said.

He also urged the PAHK to think of new projects, especially
those that will benefit Filipino household service workers, saying the
Consulate will back them up on these.

On the sidelines of the induction, Flores
spoke of reinvigorating the PAHK through monthly cocktails and new projects.

There is no final decision yet on the planned mandatory pre-employment
health check-ups for Filipino domestic workers.

This was what Consul General Antonio A. Morales said on Jan
17, after he inducted into office the new members of the Board of Directors of
the Philippine Association of Hong Kong.

ConGen Morales said the matter of requiring regular medical
check-ups for Filipino domestic workers will have to be taken up at the next
regular technical working group meeting with Hong Kong
officials.

“There should also be consultations with members of the
Filipino community first,” he said.

The country’s top diplomat said he was surprised himself
when he saw the advisory from Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre informing
accredited employment agencies that the mandatory health check-ups would take
effect from Feb. 15.

Labatt dela Torre has since put the plan on hold on being
told of concerns from various migrant workers’ groups, and called for a
consultation meeting on Sunday, Jan. 20.

But this has not deterred the militant migrant organization,
United Filipinos – Migrante Hong Kong, to call a protest on Jan 27 to denounce
the plan as endangering the work of Filipino migrants.

Dela Torre’s advisory required both a medical insurance and
a “fit to work” certificate for all Filipino domestic workers applying to
process new work contracts starting Feb. 15.

The requirement would have covered all Filipino household
workers, whether new arrivals, re-contracts, or signing up with a new employer.

Unifil-Migrante’s Eman Villanueva was among the first to hit
out at the plan, saying the “fit to work” requirement could lead to many
longtime domestic workers losing their jobs if their medical tests show even
the slightest abnormality.

He also expressed fear employment agencies would use this as
a way to make extra money from either the worker or the employer.

In his upcoming dialogue with Filcom leaders, Labatt dela
Torre said he would ask if a “fit to work” certification should be required for
the processing of contracts, and if yes, what is the extent of the medical
tests that should be required.

Another issue is whether POLO should accredit medical
clinics in Hong Kong for ease of compliance
with the requirement.

He decided to impose the mandatory checks after seeing alarming
results in the free HealthWise medical examination his office has been offering
to all Filipino migrant workers since November last year.

These included a higher-than-average percentage of workers
who are pre-diabetic or confirmed diabetics, and have high blood pressure or are
hypertensive.

Social media comments by Filipinos on his plan have been
mostly in favor of periodic medical check-ups for domestic workers, but say
this should not be made a requirement when processing a new work contract.

A domestic worker has been charged with theft in Eastern Court for
allegedly stealing merchandise from Aeon supermarket in QuarryBay
in November, just a month after another Filipina helper was arrested for
shoplifting in the same store.

The magistrate did not take a plea from the defendant and adjourned
the case to Feb 28 at the request of the prosecution.

Law also granted an application for bail by the defendant
after she was able to provide the court an address where she will be staying
while the case is being heard.

He ordered Sedeno to post bail of $1,500 for her temporary
release

Earlier, Law adjourned the hearing so Sedano could find a
place to stay and use as her contact address for the court. She managed to
obtain permission from an NGO to stay in its shelter for distressed migrants.

Sedano was accused of taking the merchandise from the Aeon
Store in KornhillPlaza, Tai Koo Shing, QuarryBay,
on Nov 14 last year.

A police report said the items she stole were one blue
Adidas jacket, one white New Balance shirt, two black Adidas hoodies, one
frozen fish fillet, two rolls of sushi, one pack of cooked food and two boxes
of milk, all belonging to Aeon Stores (HK) Co.

No estimate of the value of the goods was provided by the
police.

On Jan 15, another Filipina, J. Toquero, was fined $2,000
also in Eastern Court
after she pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing assorted merchandise worth
$1,600 last October in the same Aeon shop.